With Pau Gasol about to return to the Los Angeles Lakers lineup from a concussion, the ideas of him starting off the bench have started to float again. Mike D’Antoni however thinks it is too early for that.
Pau Gasol has been the centre of criticism ever since this season started, and now when he is on the verge of a comeback from a head concussion, questions are again being raised about the role he will play for the Lakers.
Gasol has had a horror season so far. Not only has he been struggling with tendinitis in both his knee, his figures have dropped to averaging just 12.2 points on 41.6 shooting, both career lows. Under Mike D’Antoni, he has been
benched in the fourth quarters plenty of times, and with new acquisition Earl Clark making quite an impression in the last four games, it is expected that Gasol might be moved to the bench.
Mike D’Antoni however feels that there is no need to do that at this point in time;
"(Bringing Gasol off the bench) would be tough," D'Antoni said before Tuesday's game against the Milwaukee Bucks. "We'll see (how) everything kind of plays out the way it is, but that's not my intention right now."
"We're going down a road that I don't want to go yet, so we'll worry about that when it gets there," D'Antoni added.
Gasol has never been used as a reserve in his entire career. But, with the age catching up fast, it might not be such a bad thing for him to operate from there. It will allow Gasol plenty of rest, and will also give Lakers a luxury
of having a formidable option at the front court at all time, in a scenario when Gasol relieves Dwight Howard. If D’Antoni continues to play both Howard and Gasol at the same time, the latter will have to sacrifice touches in the low post, because Howard is
just a more formidable option there.
Gasol is expected to be back in the game against the Miami Heat which is up next on Thursday. However, he will only play if he gets passed by a neurologist the day before.
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